A Life Worth Living
by smileypv
Summary: Angela has a request. Will Bella and Edward grant it?
1. Sallow

Angela -

This can't be me.

This sallow-faced girl in my rearview mirror doesn't look familiar at all. Her dark hair looks limp and unhappy. The darkness beneath her eyes shows something that she doesn't want to tell. She never wants to say it again.

I shift again in my seat and notice that I have yet another bruise on my arm, this one closer to my elbow. I must've knocked into something and not realized that I had hit hard enough to bruise. I don't even remember feeling pain. I sigh.

My car sits in front of a white house. It took me ages to remember how to get here. I must have dug through twenty boxes in my closet before I found the stiff cardstock, still looking fresh and crisp after all these years. I was always good at preserving things that might have importance later. Something so minor as a wedding invitation could make all the difference for me at this moment.

It was nothing to load the address into my phone. I followed the guidance without trouble. It wasn't until I was pulling onto to winding drive that it occurred to me that they might no longer live here. My mind has been so clouded with fatigue that logical thought took effort so much more often than it should for someone my age. Now that I'm here, I sit shaking with doubt.

_What am I doing?_

Last week, I walked out of the doctor's office without even finishing the conversation I was having. Dr. Bellinger excused himself for a moment to take a phone call from his wife even though he and I were talking. I didn't realize I was tired of the conversation until I realized that I had seen the stupid posters on the exam room walls enough that I had them memorized. And then I was done. I was not the type of person to do that. It felt rude to walk out like that and the nurse who called later sounded more concerned than usual when she left a voicemail asking me to call Dr. Bellinger when I could. Instead of calling, I packed a bag. Then I packed some boxes. I called to secure a storage unit the next day, but I hung up on the lady because I realized that I couldn't lift the boxes to move them down the stairs to my car, let alone carry them into a storage unit. I have a six-month lease paid up on the apartment. I'll just leave everything there – for now.

I didn't call my parents. I didn't even call my siblings or my friend Chloe. I just got in my car and left. I suppose they might all eventually be concerned about suddenly dropping off the grid, but walking out of the doctor's office started something I couldn't stop.

I was fighting for my life here and I couldn't show concern for anything else right now.

The flash of brown eyes from the window catches my attention. Perhaps someone is home then.

I get out of the car and walk, conscious of the uneven ground that leads to the front door. I reach up to knock when the door is opened with an unexpected whoosh.

Amber eyes and brown waves of hair greet me.

"Hello, Angela," Bella says warmly.


	2. Curious

Bella –

The things I do for my daughter.

Alice and I took Renesmee to Portland to shop for her birthday. She wanted to camp out in Powell's City of Books for as long as we would allow her. I can't say that I blamed her; I enjoyed it as much as she did, though Alice spent a chunk of her time cajoling us into leaving the bookstore to find stores where we could try on gobs of clothes instead. Now that Renesmee is fully grown – at least as far as we can tell – Alice tries to dress her more than she tries to dress me, probably because my daughter is a sucker for her Aunt Alice. I, on the other hand, am more than happy to observe while they browse racks and giggle in dressing rooms.

It was while I was trailing behind the two of them, arms locked and conspiratorial whispering that I could hear every word of regardless, that I saw someone familiar move furtively in the corner of my eye. I saw a familiar face there, but it was gone as fast as I saw it. I registered what I thought were the brown eyes of Angela Weber, but it seemed that she moved as fast I would have so I couldn't say for sure if that was her. I shared the observation with Edward that evening as we sat entangled on the sofa, Renesmee curled up in the chair next to us with her stack of books from our day's trip.

"I would never have expected to see Angela Weber, especially not in Portland. It makes me wonder where else our classmates are."

Edward stroked his hand up and down my bicep, smiling down at me. "It's bound to happen. It's one of the reasons why we've moved around so much. You can stay in one place for only so long before you realize that you are either bound to run into someone you know or people around you start to question why you haven't changed when they have."

"I guess. I just thought it was weird that she didn't stop to talk to me. I mean, we haven't seen each other in at least ten years."

"You may not have changed, Mom, but she has. Perhaps she didn't want to talk to you because she was ashamed or she didn't know what to say." Renesmee looked up from her book, offering a perspective I hadn't thought of. So much _had changed _for us, Edward and I, since our wedding a decade earlier, the last time I saw Angela. But Angela wouldn't know that; she might have just seen that I didn't look that much different and maybe she did. I was able to see that it was her, but a good glance at her, an appreciation of how much of a difference the intervening time had made, had not been possible.

I was left, then, with the question of what's next. Would she reach out to me? I knew my mother would try that from time to time whenever she thought of or ran into someone she had known in the past. Though I had cared about the people I had gone to school with in Forks, Edward and the Cullens had been the central focus of my life for the year and a half I had been at Forks High School. Beyond Angela and even Jessica to a limited extent, I hadn't really established many ties with the small group I had graduated with. I smiled when I thought of the other part of that group, the boys like Mike Newton and Eric Yorkie and Tyler Crowley and Angela's high school boyfriend, Ben Chaney.

"I wonder if she's still with Ben," I mused.

"Why would she be? How often do people end up with their high school boyfriends?" Renesmee asked.

"I think it might be more common than you think. I ended up with mine." I winked at Edward.

"That's different," my daughter said as she turned her attention back to her book. Was it really? I was still in the same place and, though I had changed quite a bit myself, the circumstances of my life – beyond Renesmee – had not. Edward wrapped his arms around me and gave my hair a kiss.

"Hmmm…I wonder what Mike Newton is up to now. Or Tyler Crowley."

"Stop it," Edward whispered, knowing how tortured those two boys had made my existence as they had jostled for my attention until it was clear that I had eyes for only Edward. He was privy to the depth of their affection for me and still teased me about it occasionally. Silly vampire.

* * *

"It was Angela you saw at the mall in Portland." Alice and I stood in Charlie's kitchen as she and Esme and I worked out plans for ripping out the cabinets and replacing them with new ones as a birthday gift for my father.

"Okay. I figured that out as soon as I saw her. The only question I had was why she hid from me rather than speak to me."

"Perhaps she was embarrassed of how much she had changed since your wedding. It may not seem that long for us, but time would move differently for her," Esme said as she made rapid measurements, whipping the tape measure in and out and around.

"That's what Renesmee said. It makes sense, but, for some reason, I can't seem to stop thinking about it."

"Perhaps it's because you haven't really seen anyone from your human life other than your father and the wolves. You're still early in your vampire life, Bella; you haven't experienced that separation from your human life and the people that populated it that the rest of us have."

I nodded and looked at Alice. To this point, we had been lucky that not much had changed for us since the Volturi had left after our confrontation over Renesmee. We visited Charlie on a regular basis, but, beyond him, our only regular contact was with Jacob, his family, his pack, and Sam's pack. We would venture out for day trips, like our shopping trip to Portland, but we stayed close to Forks for now. At some point, we would need to make a change, though.

"I'm done, girls. I'm going to head back to start working on putting the cabinets together. I think we can build the cabinets, paint them, and have them installed before your dad's birthday dinner, Bella."

I hugged my mother-in-law, but didn't follow her when she blew out of the house. Alice stayed with me. I wasn't waiting for Charlie, but more wanting to talk and think away from the Cullen house, where everything was heard regardless of how much discretion one might use. I had a feeling Alice had something else to tell me, but didn't want to say it in front of Esme.

"What else, Alice?"

"She's thinking about coming her to see you."

"She is? If she's thinking about it but hasn't decided for sure, how do you know?"

"No, she's decided, but she's not sure about when."

"What does she want?"

"All I can see is that she has a request, but she hasn't decided how to word it so I can't tell you what it is she wants specifically."

"Hmmmm," I tapped my finger against my nose and considered that. What could Angela possibly want from me, especially after all of this time?

Alice was able to nail down the time a couple of days later. I made sure to gather the family to talk to them about it. Rosalie and Emmett were elsewhere anyway, on vacation in Africa and no doubt hunting while they were there. Alice hadn't seen their return date so she was sure they would be absent for Angela's visit. Carlisle would be at the hospital and Esme assured us that she would be working on other projects in her workshop. That left just Alice and Jasper – who wanted to stay nearby just in case – and Lauren and Paul.

Lauren and Paul had surprised us six months ago. Alice knew someone was coming, of course, so, when we approached the baseball field, we knew to expect two nomads. I never imagined, though, that one of them would be Lauren of all people. Her red eyes were fading to orange now, having consumed enough animal blood to begin to dilute the garish newborn eyes, but she still hung close, trying to learn the 'vegetarian' lifestyle completely before moving on. She had managed to convince Paul to try it, but Edward had told me that Paul still had doubts, which explained Lauren's reluctance to relocate. Her bond with Paul wasn't as strong as those of us who had paired off, but it was clear she didn't want to leave him. Not even the isolation and friendly faces in Denali could entice her to leave Forks.

I told Lauren about Angela and I knew she wished she could be there with me. While Alice and Jasper were going to be in the house, they weren't going to be where our guest could see them. Edward and I would be hanging out in the house and Renesmee had planned to be in La Push with Jacob while Angela was here. Explaining Renesmee would be just as difficult as explaining why Edward and I looked virtually the same. Like Alice and Jasper, Lauren wanted to be in the house and nearby, but Paul said he couldn't risk the temptation. He was going to hunt and Lauren decided to show solidarity with his attempts at 'vegetarianism' and agreed to hunt with him.

So, there I was, sitting patiently, reading while my ears monitored the sounds of the highway. I listened for the rough pops and creaks of a car traveling down the Cullens' drive. I debated wearing brown contacts, but Alice reminded me that Angela would have seen me with the amber eyes in Portland so contacts were unnecessary. She would know I was different, that I had the same eyes as Edward. Would she know something's up? Or would she be like other humans and let the deep-seated and visceral fear of our otherness blind her to things like the change in my eyes?

Or had she figured us out and she was coming to confront me for whatever reason?

Alice saw no malice in her decision-making, no intentions of anything negative. Alice saw the moment of decision: Angela, sitting in her car, some sort of stressor bringing us to her mind. The decision was not one borne of fear or anger, but of desperation. I could not imagine what, at this age, being so close to 30, would make her desperate. Alice saw no reason for us to flee. She just saw questions in Angela's mind.

And when I opened the door to greet my old friend, I understood why Alice had seen desperation tinging Angela's decision.


	3. Determination

Angela –

"Dad, do you know what's going on with the Cullens?" I had called him while sitting in the car, in front of the white house. He made a puzzled sound and I heard him shift the phone from one ear to the other.

"I don't know that anything is going on with them. Why?"

Perhaps I didn't phrase the question correctly. "I was at the mall the other day and I thought I saw Bella and Alice.."

"You were at the mall? Angie, you know you're not supposed to go places like that. It's not good for you to be around so many people."

"Dad, please. I'm almost thirty. I know what's going on," I gathered myself before I started yelling for real. I was so tired of everyone babying me, treating me like I couldn't take care of myself. "Like I said, I thought I saw Alice and Bella in Portland and I wondered if you knew what they might be up to. I thought I might like to catch up with them."

"As far as I know, the Cullens are still in the town. The kids are all married, though I only married Edward and Bella, and they come and go, visiting Dr. Cullen and his wife. He's still practicing. I don't see the kids, but the doctor tells me about what they're up to. I'm sure you could talk to Dr. Cullen about catching up."

But I knew. I knew that they would all still be there. I didn't know why I knew, but I did. They don't change; one look at Bella and Alice and any of us could see that. And I was tired of not seeing things, not talking about things. I never saw the Cullens as strange like others did. I never whispered about them behind their backs. They were just like anyone else to me. Bella fell in with them all so easily; I trusted her judgment so that's why I was one of the few who welcomed the Cullens back after they left for a few months senior year. My RSVP for Bella and Edward's wedding had been enthusiastic "yes" to a chance to celebrate rather than a voyeuristic gossip collecting mission as Jessica had made it. I knew they would be here and that they would hear my request.

I closed the phone without saying goodbye. They still didn't know where I was. My parents had no idea that I had just left everything behind. I didn't want to think about what would happen to them next. What would happen to my apartment or my stuff. I just needed to move forward.

I had to take the chance. I was tired of waiting for them to happen.

Imagine my surprise when Bella opened the door before I could even reach up to knock.

Amber eyes. I was right; those same eyes that I always saw in Alice or Edward or Dr. Cullen were there. I did see her in Portland and I'm sure she saw me.

"Hello, Angela," Bella says warmly. She smiles and motions me in. I smile back. It was so much easier to smile at Bella. She always seemed genuine.

* * *

The white house looked different from the couple of times I had been here, but both had been for special events so I imagined that this is what it looked like day to day. The house was clean and airy, immaculate but welcoming. It was quiet for the moment; I heard no sounds of others moving about in the house. Bella showed me into the living room and we sat on the white sofas. My hands were clasped in my lap and I was suddenly stumped for what to say next.

"Thank you for inviting me in. I wasn't sure if you and Edward were around or if you would be elsewhere."

"You're welcome. I'm glad to see you. It's been a long time."

"Yes, it has. I think I saw you and Alice in Portland. You guys were walking through Pioneer Place with another person. I didn't recognize her."

"That's Edward's niece, Renesmee. She lives with us now." Bella shifted and looked concerned. "Why didn't you stop us? We would have grabbed a drink or something with you."

I blushed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if it was you guys and I didn't want to bother you."

"You're here now. What's up with you? How have the last ten years treated you?"

I laughed, a bitter edge that I hadn't intended to give away accentuating its tone. "Well, Ben and I went to college together and then about a year in, he dumped me for some sorority girl. I haven't seen him since then. I graduated with my photography degree and got a job for a catalog publisher. We do catalogs for a range of manufacturers. I do most of the photography and write copy on the side, depending on the company."

"Wow, that's amazing. Most people don't get to use their degrees. I'm sure you're thrilled to be able to continue something you were so good at."

I shrugged. What could I say to that? I was lucky that I got to use my degree, especially in something so esoteric. Most of my classmates had not been so fortunate, but my job was not as exciting as it sounded. It functioned more like an episode of "The Office," but any thoughts of changing jobs were squelched as soon health insurance became a primary concern. "What are you and Edward up to? Did you get to go to Dartmouth?"

Bella smiled. "Eventually. After we got married, we sort of got sidetracked. Then we adopted Renesmee and life took over. We are both studying for our degrees still, but we're doing it online so we can stick close to the area."

The lulls in conversation were killing me; I hated being so boring. But I was getting tired and it was hard to think. Even worse, I still had to drive back to Portland after this. Perhaps getting a hotel room was a better idea. I would definitely have to wait until I was out of Forks to do that; God knows what my parents would say if they found out I had been here without telling them.

"Angela, would you like something to drink?" Bella broke the silence with her offer. I shook my head.

"I'm sorry. I really need to go. I have a long drive back to Portland and I just wanted to pop by while I was in Forks. I hope I didn't disturb you guys."

"Oh, no. It was good to see you. It's been so long since I've seen anyone from high school really, except Edward and the Cullens, of course. I'm happy to catch up with you."

"Thanks," I stood up and headed for the door. The walk wasn't very far; I had already traveled the distance once so it surprised me when I felt the fatigue mocking the distance. I could make it, right? My dignity spurred me forward and I rolled my eyes at its insistence when I felt my legs give out. Before I knew it, I was looking up from the floor, Bella's concerned face peering over me as she tried to assess what was wrong. She touched my face, as if to check my temperature, and I was surprised at the chill her touch brought on. Was her skin cold or was I just sick? My immune system wasn't exactly up to snuff at the moment. Then she touched my hand and again I felt the chill of her skin.

_She felt like stone. _I squeezed her hand and it felt like squeezing a statue. She moved like a human, but she felt like something else. It gave me hope that I wasn't crazy.

"Angela, are you okay? Do you want to sit up?"

I just laid on the floor, embarrassed to have collapsed. I had pushed my limits for the day, though. Sitting up made me feel better and I eventually climbed to my feet. Time to make my exit. I couldn't stay after that performance. I wasn't ready to share, to talk.

"I think I'm okay. I'm just going to go."

Bella looked concerned, but said nothing to that. She showed me toward the door and leaned on it, smiling. "It really was good to see you, Angela. I always appreciated your friendship back in high school. You've always been so easy to talk to."

I laughed again, bitterness tinging me. Her remark seemed so ironic next to my performance during our visit. What was my problem today? "Thanks, Bella. I enjoyed our friendship too."

I turned to walk away. I got in my car and started it. Bella disappeared into the house with a final wave.

_OK, Angie, feet on pedals, hand on gear shift. Let's move. _My body was telling me to go. It was time to go. I needed to recuperate and to recharge. All common sense was telling me to slow down and think about what I was doing. Adults don't act like this. Angela Weber, the responsible child, didn't act like this.

But people do strange things when they're desperate. I was desperate. Collapsing after a short conversation showed that. I was in a right state. I couldn't leave. I had to buck up and go back in there, collapse be damned.

Perhaps I should just lay my cards on the table and see what Bella picks up.

It was time.


	4. Question

Bella –

She was still sitting in her car and I could hear her there. I heard the thud of her head against the steering wheel. I heard the sighs of frustration coming from her core. I knew something was wrong, but it was not my place to push her.

The hardest part of all of this is moving at a human pace, which felt almost glacial now. I was ten years removed from being human; my primary company to this point had been vampires and, since we all knew each other so well, it wasn't hard to just put it all out there. I could read them all like a book. Even my father was easier to read now, but I had a cheat there – my mind-reading husband.

I knew something was bothering Angela. She was thinner, which is saying something since she was always so petite to begin with. Her skin tone was different, absent of the flush of health. Her smell was off; there was something chemical in her essence and it dominated over even the scent of her human blood. I'm sure if I brought Edward down, he would tell me what she wanted and what she was thinking. But he was upstairs, as I had asked him to be, because a mind reader in the room with a troubled human would be an issue. How was he supposed to alert me to what she was thinking?

Just as I was thinking about him, he popped in for a second. "She's still sitting in her car," he said.

"Yes, the whole encounter was awkward. She seemed like she wanted something, but then she acted like she was in a hurry to leave."

"She collapsed on her way out."

"Yeah, I'm not sure why. She looks sick, but she never mentioned anything, just told me a little bit about her life. What was she thinking?"

He pursed his lips. I knew Edward wasn't always comfortable with being able to know what others were thinking. He felt like it was intrusive to know secrets and truths that were private. He never shared Jasper's and Rosalie's stories with me, even though he knew their truths intimately. He seemed conflicted about sharing Angela's thoughts now.

"She's dying, Bella. Did you notice how she smelled, how the scent of her blood wasn't as powerful as it is when you're standing next to Charlie or Sue?"

"I smelled more chemical than anything else. It was something I hadn't encountered before."

"It's chemotherapy. Angela has cancer. It's terminal and she's here to find out what we are. She suspects, but she doesn't know for sure. It's not like we adhere to perceived vampire canon anyway."

"Does she want to be immortal?" I said with a gasp. How I wished I could read minds at the moment!

"She doesn't want to be in pain anymore. And she's not dealing well with dying. She's trying to escape."

I didn't know what to think. Angela dying? It seemed so wrong to have such a beautiful soul gone so soon. She was such a good person. She never seemed to ask too much of anyone and had done nothing malicious or questionable to me or anyone that I had known of. It grieved me to think that she would die now when there was so much left to do. I mean, she was not even thirty yet.

"What do we do now?"

"We listen to her, Bella. She's dying. She deserves dignity and love."

"Hmmm…yes. Of course. If she comes back in, I'll be happy to hear her out. I'll do whatever for her."

"Would you grant her immortality if she asked for it?" He said, looking directly into my eyes. He had already been on the receiving end of my repeated requests over the year and a half before I actually became immortal. I knew my own reasons. I had known what I was getting into. I had gone into it willingly, well aware – at least as much I could have been as a human – what I was getting into. I had been immersed in it so intimately that I hadn't even been faced with that first year craze that most vampires had.

_But I didn't know if I could grant Angela's wish. _And I felt like a gigantic hypocrite in my vampire body standing next to my vampire husband.


	5. Truth

Angela –

This time, I knocked on the front door. I rapped quietly at first, but my will and determination took over and my second knock was louder and more insistent.

"Come in," I heard from inside, Bella's voice ringing clearly. I turned the knob, pushed the door open, and saw her standing there with Edward.

Neither had changed. At all. They looked just the same as their wedding day, with the exception of Bella's eyes. Her brown eyes had given way to the same topaz intensity as her husband's. Other than that, neither of them had changed. But the way they looked at me had changed. Their expressions were serious; those looks that I usually got, the looks of sympathy, were absent. No one felt sorry for me here. Least of all, me. I stopped feeling sorry for myself the moment I decided what I was willing to do to take control of my life.

"Hello again," I said.

"Hello, Angela," Edward said. "Would you like to sit down?"

I was still standing by the front door. I didn't want to sit. I didn't want to do anything that reminded me of my physical limitations.

"No, I'm fine, thank you. I just want to talk to you both for a moment." I stood primly, hands clasped in front of me, feet close together. Bella and Edward stood silent for a moment.

"I was just telling Edward how happy I was to see you. It's been so long since we've seen anyone from school. We've been in and out of Forks so often that really we've only seen my dad and Sue and some of my friends from La Push."

"I've been in Portland since I graduated from UW. I travelled a bit before that, but I settled permanently after I found the job I have now."

Bella smiled; she seemed tense. "What did you do before that? You travelled?"

"I was a freelancer for a couple of the news services. I mostly covered lifestyle stuff, like architecture or fashion, but I did get to cover a few trials and sporting events."

"Really? Was that a goal of yours, to be a freelancer?"

"I can't remember what my goals were anymore, honestly. The job I have now, I settled for when I couldn't travel anymore."

Bella tried to look concerned, she really did, but she couldn't pull off the puzzlement as much as I'm sure she would have liked. She had a much harder time hiding her emotions than Edward did, who just looked at me steadily, like he was waiting for my next statement, unphased by my appearance or my emotions.

"What happened?" Bella asked. This time, there was genuine curiosity and concern.

"After I graduated, I traveled as a freelancer for about four years until I noticed I was feeling tired all of the time. So tired that it would take me days to recover from a long stretch of traveling. I went to the doctor for my yearly exam and, three appointments later, was in an oncologist's office hearing about my stage three cervical cancer. I heard plans about surgeries and radiation and chemo. I had my mother fluttering over me in my apartment after my treatments. She held my head when I got sick from the chemicals. She did my grocery shopping and took care of my life."

"Then, one day, I was told that my cancer was in remission. I felt better, but I never felt right. I never felt like I was back to being Angela, like you would have known her. I got the job with the catalog publisher and stuck close to Portland just in case. My doctors discouraged me from travelling like I had as a freelancer. I did everything I was supposed to do, but the cancer came back last year." I swayed. I felt it come on and I saw myself reflected in their eyes. I saw the physical reaction that the truth brought on whenever I said it. Each time I had told people, I swayed, as if the truth were a gust of wind that was always going to try to knock me down. I never cried. I had spent all of those tears the first time around.

"That's terrible, Angela. We are so sorry for everything that has happened to you." Edward said.

"Thank you, Edward. I really appreciate that." I said. In my mind, though, I wanted to scream.

"What can we do for you, Angela? Is there any way we can help? Carlisle is a doctor; I'm sure he could help you find a different oncologist or treatment if you needed it." Bella offered.

I paused. They were saying all of the right things. Things that friends would say. Things that my family had said at different points. My father giving me speeches about God and what faith could do. My mother reassuring me that they would be there for me whenever, whatever. My brothers, both elsewhere themselves, offering what they could consider their lack of proximity. Cancer always brought out others' desire to help, as though you needed it. I would tell my mother that I didn't want help; I just wanted to not feel isolated, different, _other_. I was tired of being Angela-Has-Cancer and just wanted to be Angela. All I knew of the Cullens were that they were _other _too. They had come to terms with being isolated and I wondered how. I wanted their help, but not the help they were offering.

I cocked my head at Bella and smiled wanly. "I don't want that kind of help."

Bella looked abashed, but not as much as one would expect from that kind of rebuff. Edward remained impassive, as if he knew something he wasn't letting on. His mouth threatened to set in a line, as if he were tense, but he wasn't there yet. "What do you want, Angela?"

"I need your help, Bella and Edward. I need you to help me save my life."

"Sure, anything we can do. We can lend you money for treatment or set you up with a place to live if you need to go somewhere else for that…"

"That's not what I mean." I pursed my lips. They were going to make me say it.

"I'm dying, Bella. It's just a matter of time and we're not talking months or years. _Weeks._ _Days_. Obviously my doctors can't pinpoint it, but they've assured me there's nothing more to be done."

Both stood stone still. Neither seemed surprised by my statement.

"I know what you are. I know you can help me. You can help me save my life."

Just then, the last person I would ever have expected to see in that house walked in the room. I mean, seriously, the last person I would _ever _have expected to see in the same place as Bella Swan Cullen.

"You're dying?" Lauren asked. She had orange eyes. She was bone pale.

_Yes. _I thought to myself. _Yes._


	6. Tension

Bella –

_"Lauren?" _Angela shrieked. To this point, she had not looked freaked out about anything, but she couldn't have possibly expected Lauren to appear. Angela looked almost faint with shock.

"Dying? You're dying?" Lauren looked just as freaked out and moved to hug Angela, covering the space between them in a fraction of a second. Her movements were so fast that Angela jumped back, not expecting to see how a vampire really moves. None of the Cullens had ever moved that fast in her presence. I had taken care to avoid doing that too. But Angela's movements were not fast enough and Lauren was standing right in front of her despite Angela's jump backwards. Lauren looked like she was about to crush Angela in a hug that the latter couldn't handle.

"Lauren, stop. Calm down. Angela is sick, very sick. Take it easy," I moved toward Lauren, who turned her orange eyes toward me. She was upset, deeply upset, and still technically a newborn. Her emotions seemed to overwhelm her. I felt like I was rapidly losing control of the situation. I looked at Edward, who walked over to Lauren and guided her back toward us. Angela still stood near the door, her eyes big and frightened. She had looked almost smug when Lauren had appeared, but now surprise was the dominant emotion. She hadn't regained her composure yet.

"Angela, are you all right?" I asked. She responded with a small nod and continued to look at us with wide eyes. She was stunned and rightly so. No one human could ever have moved that fast. It was the same incredulity I had when I saw Edward stop the van from crushing me. The difference was, I was better at assessing it and compartmentalizing it. For all that Angela knew about us, she obviously didn't know that.

"What are you, Lauren? What happened to you?" She stared at the blonde vampire, not moving still, but just taking it all in.

Lauren blinked at me and then at Edward as if looking for our permission. She knew Edward could read her mind and I saw him nod ever so imperceptibly (at least in Angela's eyes) at Lauren. He was trying to tell her no, but she instead looked back at me. "Bella?" she whispered.

"Not now," I whispered back. Our exchange operated on vampire time so Angela would not have seen the conversation in the same way.

"I'll talk to you about it later," Lauren's voice brightened a bit, trying to push back her emotions. "I'm just glad to see you. I heard your last statement and it took me by surprise."

Angela laughed bitterly. "You and me both. I came here because I thought I might be able to find a solution. Perhaps, at least from the look of you, I did come to the right place." Her gaze shifted to me and I heard Edward's low gasp. Something in her mind surprised him.

"Bella?" Angela stared at me, her gaze trying to spur me to continue the conversation. Rather than take the bait, I decided to keep her talking, to see what she knew. Could we redirect her away from the course she was on?

"Edward?" Angela looked at him in the same way. Her body was tense now, like she didn't want to say something, like she wanted us to do it instead. None of the vampires in the room moved a hair. I saw Lauren's nostrils flair and then felt her shudder a bit as she got a whiff of Angela's chemical scent. The residues from chemotherapy and radiation were still heavy in her body even though her treatments had ended.

"Are you going to make me say it?" Angela pursed her lips. How strange it felt to make someone so gentle have to be so forceful. Our crumbling anonymity was warring with my desire to make things better for her. Alice's words about responsibility, about playing my part, words she had spoken so many moons ago, collided with the image of Angela's collapse earlier.

_Protect our secret._

_Save my friend._

_Protect our secret._

_Save my friend._

_Protect our –_

"You're different." Angela said. "All of you. Dr. Cullen, Mrs. Cullen, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice. You, Edward, and now you, Bella. And however improbably, you too, Lauren. You don't change. You don't age. Apparently, you move faster than any human I've ever seen. You're not human. What are you?"

"Angela—" Edward began, no doubt with a bead on whatever Angela was thinking, trying to redirect her thoughts. Inject false assumptions. _Adrenaline rush, Edward?_ I smiled wanly to myself.

"I'm not leaving without answers!" Angela shouted at the top of her lungs. She looked abashed for a moment, but continued. "You don't understand. I have nothing left. I have no spouse. I have only a few friends. I have no time. I have nothing."

"This is not an answer," Lauren whispered. Angela just looked at her, registering that she had spoken, but not what she had said. "This is not an answer," this time louder.

"How can it not be?" Angela just looked at Lauren. "Whatever you are, it has to be better than this," she gestured at herself.

"This is not a life, Angela. Really."

I looked across at Edward. It made me sad to heard Lauren, just like it always made me sad that Rosalie had said the same thing to me. It was a life for me and for Edward. Without it, I wouldn't have Renesmee. I had no regrets. But I knew what I was getting into. Lauren had never had a choice.

"Lauren, whatever this is, it's a thousand times better than dying."

"I would rather have died!"

Angela shook her head. "No, you wouldn't have."

Lauren tensed. I felt it and prepared to stop her from making a move that could hurt Angela, but the blond vampire stayed put next to me. "Angela, you have no idea. What I left behind. A family. A life. I had it all ripped from me. I can't ever go back to it. I get to live with it forever. The memory of my children, of my husband. I'm dead to them, but they're not dead to me. They're all going to grow, to change, to live. And I won't be there for any of it. One day, they'll all be dead and I won't be. You're supposed to die, Angela. People are supposed to die."

"But I don't have that, Lauren. I have none of that. I have no husband. I have no children. I have cancer. Cancer took away my ability to have children. Even if I did recover, I wouldn't be able to have a family. I have no hope for anything else. Am I supposed to die at twenty-nine? Is this it? Is this all I get?"

"I refuse to accept that. I know you can help me. All of you. Whatever you are, whatever the risks, whatever the consequences. I'm ready."

Lauren started again, but Angela cut her off. "I'm ready, Lauren. I'm ready to live. I'm not ready to die."

Lauren's gaze grew steely. "You have no idea what you are asking. None."

"I have nothing left, Lauren. I'm not even supposed to be standing here with you all. I should be at home, resting."

"You have your parents and your brothers," I said. "Your family loves you and cares about you."

"I know," Angela pursed her lips and rubbed her forehead. Her voice came out unsteady. "But they're going to lose me either way. Me, though, I've already lost me. And I'm just trying to get her back."

Lauren's gaze remained trained on Angela's face. "This is not a life, Angela," she said quietly.

"You guys are my last chance. I'm not leaving without answers."

"I can't be a part of this." Lauren blew out of the room and the house soundlessly. Only our ears would have picked up on her exit and subsequent escape over the river and into the woods.

"I'm not leaving without answers," Angela repeated, her gaze now trained on me and then Edward. Then she collapsed.


	7. Dreams

Angela –

I dream of things I don't have words for.

_Dying in a hospital ward, fever wracking my body, and then the burning pain of venom cascading through arteries, veins, capillaries._

_The feel of a child whose kicks crack ribs and knock me black and blue – on the outside._

_The rip of cotton and the hot pressure of someone unwanted on my body. The sear of something sharp in my side._

_Waking up with nothing but stars, innumerable stars, over my head. The tops of trees clear in the moonless night._

_The clarity of sight, seeing every grain in the hardwood floors or the finest detail of a flower while flying through the forest._

_Razor-sharp teeth slicing into hot flesh. Frantic claws, hooves, teeth raking at my skin, ineffectual but annoying. The unshakable thirst._

_Blood-red eyes, so stark next to my own brown eyes. Amber. Orange._

_Cold, pale skin. Like stone._

_Vampire._

I collapsed because my body had reached its limit, but my mind had not. I stayed awake, refusing to slip into unconsciousness. I was so worried that I would forget how to open my eyes and then I would be done for; the visit to the big white house would be for naught. So I willed my eyes open and talked to Edward and Bella both and then Lauren until I noticed that the dark had replaced the light. There was no way I was going home now. My body was too tired for that.

They told me more than I know both of them wanted to relate. I could feel the hesitation. We had reached a point of no return; I knew things I wasn't supposed to know. They had two options: allow me to carry it all to my grave, because how I could tell _anyone_ and have them believe me, or change me. Then I would be invested in keeping their secrets because they would be mine as well.

I heard their stories. Edward's early years in Chicago and his entrance into this life. Bella meeting Edward, all of these moments that I had apparently been oblivious to, learning the secret, keeping the secret, and then what made her want to be a part of this life. I heard about Renesmee, their daughter, and Bella's sacrifice that brought her into vampire life. I heard about burning from the inside out, the excruciating pain that came with the transition. I felt Bella's delicate shudder as Edward related those memories, still clear to him even with the intervening years. I tried to imagine the burn of the thirst that prompted the ecstasy of biting into hot flesh. They were giving me everything and doing their best to be as stark as possible. I think they were still trying to talk me out of it as I listened, lying on the sofa, and then, lastly on the bed in Renesmee's room, a spare bedroom they kept for nights when she wanted to sleep over in the Cullen house. The bedding was a beautiful pale purple and the bed looking like it had climbing vines and flowers all around it, all starkly charcoal grey. My eyes kept returning to a rough place on the bed where it seemed a flower had been broken off somehow.

As I closed my eyes, I still worried that I would forget to open them again, but Edward assured me that none of the Cullens would allow that to happen. With the doctor and at least a half dozen vampires around, there was no way anyone would miss my heart stopping. I drifted off with some sense of safety and trust that no harm would come to me there.

I replayed my day as I contemplated the images of vampire life I had tried to absorb from my friends. Getting in the car to drive here seemed like it had happened days, not hours, ago. My exhausted state of being seemed to be an end result of my fears about falling asleep. Ever since the doctor had given me a prognosis of a limited amount of time, I feared sleep. I feared the absence of control it brought on. I questioned so many things about my life when I closed my eyes. What else could I say about my choices? It turns out that the choice was never really mine anyway. No matter what I did, the cancer still would have caught me and pushed me onto this track. I questioned whether marriage or motherhood might have changed this, but I did what I was supposed to do. I wore sunscreen and went to the doctor. I was active and ate well. I tried to date and put myself out there after Ben and I broke up, but traveling made it so hard to have a relationship and, well, cancer isn't sexy. I couldn't put it on an online dating profile and the treatments stole my desire for that part of my life anyway. You would think remission might have given me a reprieve from that, but it didn't.

Do you see why death didn't feel like a relief? I wasn't in so much pain that I was ready to end it. I was just tired of having my life stolen from me. I wanted to take back control – somehow. That is how I ended up here, lying on a bed in the Cullen house. I reached over and saw my cell phone sitting on the nightstand. I had twenty text messages from my mother and father and twelve missed phone calls. I wondered how long it would take before they would come looking for me. I sent my mother a text.

_Sorry, Mom. I'm home now. I've been out with friends and then came home and fell asleep. _I sent the same message to my father and brothers. I would call my mother when I knew she would be up. Anything to throw them off the Cullens' trail. I'm sure my last phone call to my father, asking about the Cullens was a bad idea now.

I tried to figure out how to disappear. If I became a vampire – gosh, I can't believe I'm taking this word seriously enough to want to become one – I would have to say goodbye to everyone. To this life. To Angela Weber. I could even change my name and be someone else entirely, though I'm sure it would be strange to have anyone call me something other than this. I had the mechanism for disappearing already, though.

I would abandon my car near the river, leaving notes for my family inside. I would mail a resignation letter to my boss – I had already been on medical leave anyway; I'm not sure if they were counting on my return and my departure probably wouldn't make that big of a difference anyway. I would leave instructions for dispersing of my stuff. Somehow, the idea that Bella and Lauren both had been in similar situations and were now _vampires_ (how weird!) made the decision seem less drastic.

Every time my gut clenched, every time the tiniest shadow of doubt flashed across my thoughts, I asked myself, _What do you have to lose anymore?_

I had made my decision. I had heard details of what to expect. Like the descriptions of treatment that my doctor had given me prior to chemo, I knew whatever they said wasn't going to help me a damn bit. I was going into unchartered territory here. Hell, I was going to be the equivalent of a fairy tale.

I even heard someone say something about werewolves and I had to wonder how many of the stories that we all dismiss as fairy tales or science fiction were real. How little attention humans pay to what's going on around them. It's like I was living with blinders on, either not willing to see or having instinct deflect my eyes from the perceived unexplainable.

The sunlight began to peek through the shades and I knew I needed to get up and start this day. I needed to call my parents. I needed to plan what was next. My stomach growled too. Even though I knew this day was still an uncertainty, my hunger told me that I felt better, stronger. I felt closer to an answer about what was next. Even the idea that this might be the last time I talked to my parents or my brothers didn't bother me as much as I had expected. I hadn't forgotten how to open my eyes. I had another day to look forward to. The anticipation of time thrilled me.


	8. Decisions

Bella –

"Are we to have all of your high school friends end up here?"

Rosalie and Emmett had just returned from Africa and came home to a maelstrom. Emmett was still grinning about taking down some exotic game, but Rosalie immediately got huffy when she figured out that Angela was here. Her tolerance for Lauren and Paul had started to wane, the primary reason she had talked Emmett into taking off for exotic locales for a while.

"Rose—" Esme's voice was a warning. Rosalie just sniffed and sat down next to Emmett. The whole Cullen clan was assembled in the living room, with Lauren and Paul standing with Renesmee, off to the side, outside the ring of decision-makers.

Angela was upstairs, asleep. The three of us – Lauren, Angela, and I – had spent hours catching up. I asked questions, but I never tried to tip my hand. Thankfully, Lauren hadn't either. She seemed to be discouraging Angela more than anything else. I couldn't tell, though, if she was going to stay steadfast in her resolve against changing our friend. Lauren was still a newborn, technically, and she had not had time to deal with the idea of life and death and how little we all really needed to have to do with it. She was still mourning the loss of her previous life. I knew she still had trouble with being away from her children. The glances she gave Renesmee and I told me that without Edward filling me in on what she was thinking.

Renesmee thankfully had not told Jacob that Angela was here. Usually, the two of them were inseparable – damn imprinting – but Billy had been ill recently and Jacob was sticking close to home because of it. Even though Rachel and werewolf Paul lived nearby, their ever-expanding brood made it difficult for her to help Billy so Jacob stuck close to him. Renesmee was never more than a phone call away and I saw her pick up her phone yet again to send him a text.

Edward and I sat next to Alice and Jasper while Rosalie and Emmett sat nearest to Esme and Carlisle. Alice said that she couldn't see beyond Angela's resolve to change; no one here had decided if they were going to help her so all she saw was Angela possibly abandoning her car by the river. Angela had already decided to do that, but Alice said that the timeline was imprecise, which meant that, really, that whole future was contingent on something else, most likely what would happen tonight.

It was time to hash it out. It was time to decide Angela's fate.

"You all know why we're here. We have a young woman upstairs asking for our help." Carlisle put his hands together, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. Esme put her hand on his back and smiled a little. This was going to be a tough conversation.

Rosalie spoke first. "We can't do it. You know that, right?" She looked at me and then Lauren, the two people who would be closest to Angela. "We can't save everyone. That's not how these things work."

Lauren, ever willing to be contrary since it didn't matter to her if Rosalie liked her, chimed in. "Most of us in this room wouldn't be here if it weren't for someone being willing to step in and save us."

Rosalie turned to her. "Are you seriously on this girl's side? Didn't I hear you trying to discourage her earlier?"

Lauren narrowed her eyes. "This isn't black and white, not completely. We have to hear all sides of this."

Rosalie's mouth set in a grim line. "The treaty says that we can't bite a human. That's the agreement we made with the packs and I am not willing to renege on that for the sake of this human."

"What about Bella?" Edward said. "We broke the treaty to save her."

"That was different," Rosalie looked at me, softening. "We had Jacob's permission to do that. Do you think he's going to agree to this one too? Saving Bella didn't establish some precedent. We can't change every person that comes to us asking for it.

"We could take Angela to Denali. The packs would never have to know she was here or what she was intending to do." Renesmee chimed in.

"Are you really willing to keep that information from Jacob? He'll know something is up." Rosalie was apparently firmly in the "No" camp and going the distance to keep the rest of us with her.

"If it's that important, I can do that. Jacob isn't a mind reader. This is important. Angela has put her life in our hands and I'm not going to rule anything out."

"I can't see anything beyond her resolve right now since not everyone has decided yes or no. We know Renesmee can't do it because she's not venomous. I don't see Angela going back home either so there's some variable that's still undecided. Someone is teetering on the brink of saying yes. That's why it's still indistinct. All I can see is Angela abandoning her car." Alice looked at Jasper, who was trying to ramp down the tension. That indistinct quality was important. It told us that this wasn't decided in _someone's _mind. She just couldn't tell whose mind it was.

Jasper, Edward, and Emmett stayed quiet. I knew Edward had declined to participate in this other than talking to Angela. He mourned the idea of her death, but he wasn't going to play a part in how her mortal life ended. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of interfering like this. Edward was surprised to see Lauren, just like I was, but he couldn't tell me if he had been in Paul's situation how he would have acted.

"There are two things to consider here. First, how much do we want to play a hand in deciding Angela's fate. All of us came to this life through different avenues, but most of us didn't have a choice. Others acted for us, for different reasons. Second, what role can we play in changing her? To me, that's the biggest question," I looked at Carlisle directly. He decided for Esme, Edward, and Rosalie. Would he be willing to decide for Angela too?

"Bella, my choices for Rosalie, Esme, and Edward all happened elsewhere. I had no one to hold me to account there. Here, we have the packs to consider. Jacob was willing to make an exception for you, but I don't think he will do the same for Angela, even if this is her choice. He wasn't receptive to changing you until it came down to it."

"But this is Angela's choice. She wants this. We can give it to her. We know how to do it without biting her. I mean, look at how I was changed."

"Bella," Edward put his hand on my back. "Do you honestly think you could subject your friend to being stabbed directly in the heart with a vial of venom?"

I flinched. I didn't remember that even though I know it happened. I had been teetering on the edge of oblivion when Edward had injected his venom into my heart. I wondered if it would be possible to do that to Angela. Could we sedate her enough that she wouldn't feel it when happened? Could we feed it to her in an IV? Rosalie's voice broke through my musings.

"Well, I vote no. I want no part of this. I'm sorry that she's in pain and that she's dying. But that's the natural order of things. Not only do I want to avoid breaking the treaty with the packs, but I will not subject another person to this life, even if she thinks that's what she wants."

"We've told her about what to expect. We've done the best we can to explain it in explicit detail," I said.

"Saying and doing are not the same. You know that. You couldn't have known what the burn of your thirst was going to feel like until you were a vampire. No matter how much we all told you want to expect, you still can't know until you're there. Angela has no idea what she's getting herself into." Rosalie looked at Emmett expectantly. He held his hands up.

"I'm not in this decision. I don't know Angela either. I don't want to break faith with the packs, but I don't want to say no to her choices either. She has the right to make them. I'm at an impasse myself."

Rosalie huffed at him and looked at Alice. My petite sister held her hands up too. "I'm with Emmett. I know Angela, but I don't remember my human life at all. I don't know that I am willing to take her choice away from her."

"If you say no, you're not taking away her choice. She can choose this all she wants. All you are saying is that you don't want this for her."

"Rosalie, it's not my place to say that. I can only choose whether or not I participate. She can just as easily find someone else to do this." Alice grimaced.

"But –"

"Rose, you can say that Angela shouldn't become a vampire all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not up to you. It's only up to you how much you want to be a part of this." I said. "If you don't want to be a part of it, that's fine. If one of us says no, then all of us should say no. All of us are affected by this decision. If Emmett and Edward and Alice are all undecided and you say no, then we, the Cullens, don't have a role here. It's not our place to stop it either. It's just our place to say that we cannot participate and that we cannot have it happen here, on our lands, where the treaty with the packs is binding."

Rosalie looked somewhat mollified by that statement, while Jasper, Alice, Edward, and Emmett seemed resigned to that position. I didn't want Angela to die, but I also knew that, as a Cullen, it wasn't my place to have anything to do with changing Angela. Renesmee couldn't do anything, as she was not venomous, and she was as bound to the treaty as we were. I looked at Carlisle. "Carlisle, Esme, what do you both think? Carlisle, you've been here before."

"I have, Bella, but I wasn't bound by the treaty then. I feel obligated to adhere to my agreement with the Quileutes and to help Angela at the same time. If she can't recover from this and she has asked for my help, I feel like it is my place to figure out how to help her."

"Do you think that the Denalis would help? Could they do this? They're not bound by any agreements."

"I don't know that any of them have ever created another vampire. I'm not sure if they would be willing to help Angela either, as none of them know her. It is not our place to ask them to participate in this."

"Esme?" I asked, hopeful. Could she see a way to help my friend?

"Carlisle is right, Bella. We can't do this ourselves and we can't ask the Denalis to do it either. I want to help your friend, but I can't see any way that we can do this. I'm sorry. I grieve for Angela's loss. I grieve for any loss, human or vampire."

Lauren and Paul were still, Renesmee standing with them, watching them, just like I was now. Lauren's arms were crossed and she stood staring in Paul's eyes, as if they were having a silent conversation. They had spent so much time together that I was surprised their relationship had not become romantic, but they seemed to operate on a level that encompassed a closeness beyond just friendship. Perhaps it was the fact that he changed her that bonded them so. He stared back with the same orange eyes. After many years of living as a nomad, feeding on humans, he had been trying the vegetarian lifestyle and I wondered if he would become a permanent adherent to that.

"If you won't do it, I will." Lauren said finally.

"But you've never turned another vampire. How do you know you can?" Rosalie challenged.

"Paul can do it. He's done it once already," Lauren said quickly.

"Thanks for volunteering me. I didn't know I was a part of this." Paul looked down at his hands.

"You are now." Lauren put her hand on his. "Anywhere I am, you are, remember? We are in this together."

"You can't do it here. We have an agreement with the Quileutes," Carlisle said.

"I know. We won't put you all at risk of breaking that. We'll leave," Lauren said. "I'll take Angela somewhere else and we will figure it out."

Alice gasped. "It's clear now. You were the holdout. You were waffling. It was so indistinct before, because you hadn't decided for sure."

Lauren looked at me. "I don't want Angela to die. I don't want this for her either, necessarily, but I don't want her to die. Maybe she can be part of our coven. We'll establish our own place." Lauren looked at Paul. "You won't have to roam anymore."

Paul smiled. He still seemed hesitant, but, at the same time, he seemed willing to do anything for Lauren. He brushed her pale blonde hair from her face. "Let's try it."

"Where will you take her?" Carlisle asked.

"It doesn't matter. You don't need to know where or when anyway. We don't want to endanger you in any way." Lauren said. Perhaps she was going to take charge of this new coven.

"When will you leave?" I said, saddened and relieved. I actually liked Lauren now and would miss her and Angela, but I was relieved that we didn't have to worry about this decision anymore. It was out of our hands now.

"Soon. Angela and I will need to talk before we do anything else."

The Cullens looked relieved that everything was now decided. Lauren and Paul looked concerned and were deep in conversation once again. We all sat listening in on their discussion. Lauren looked around at us all and smiled. "Excuse us," she said.

She grabbed Paul's hand and flitted out of the room. I sighed and looked at Edward. The moon was now high in the night sky and Renesmee yawned behind me.

"Let's go home."


	9. Return

Angela –

Coming back seemed strange. It felt like I had just been here.

Nothing had really changed. The landscape was still lush and simple, green as ever. The smells of the moss and the moist were so familiar to me that it was like coming home every time. It was something so ingrained in me that I instantly thought of my childhood whenever I smelled it. Days of hikes and running along the river. Exploring the landscapes behind my parents' house. Walking the streets, never questioning my safety.

I found it ironic that I was now the safety risk.

Just kidding.

_Maybe._

Lauren and Paul were on my heels. My long legs and relative youth made me faster than them, but I think they were as excited as I was about where we were going. Lauren was from this area too. Even though her parents had long since moved away, she confessed that she liked going back to Forks, even though she had hated it when we were kids. We all hated it at one point or another, wanting to escape and see something bigger than the tall, moss-coated trees that ring the area. Somehow, though, the older we all got, the more we realized we actually loved it all, even if we didn't see it every day. It was all a part of us and I was grateful that I could return to it.

The white house stood the same as ever. The whisper quiet movements of its inhabitants would have gone unheard by my old ears, but my new ears heard all. I smiled when I heard the tap-tap-tap of Renesmee on her phone. The sashay of a dress as its wearer moved about the rooms. The quiet keystrokes on a piano as someone – Edward? - hummed something new. This place felt like my birth place, the start of my life. All of that had actually happened in the Cullen house, but the wheels were put in motion here and I would always think of the house as the place where my life truly began.

I stopped just short of the river, not wanting to go any further without Lauren and Paul by my side. I wasn't sure how the Cullens were going to receive me and I looked at them both with questions in my eyes. Lauren smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure it will be fine, Ang," she kissed my forehead. "They love you just as much as we do."

Paul smiled at me as well and reached over to kiss me. "You'll be great, my love." He kissed me again and I could not resist the chance to wrap my arms around his neck and bring myself closer to him. Lauren cleared her throat in her usual 'wrap-it-up-people' way and rolled her eyes at me.

"Sorry," I mouthed. I knew we were getting on her nerves. "We need to find you a date soon," I told her with a smile.

"Yeah, that's my problem. I need a date." Lauren flipped her blonde hair and looked at me seriously. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready."

We leapt over the river together and started toward the house.

We were met by four figures as we approached the house. My nose wrinkled when I smelled the strong animal scent of the man standing next to Renesmee. Their linked hands told me that this must be her Jacob. When I looked at him, taking in all of his tall body, muddy human memories of a boy on a motorcycle in the high school parking lot came back to me. Was this the same Jacob that Bella had worried over all of those years ago? My mind boggled as I considered how it was possible that Jacob had been causing Edward so much grief and now was standing next to Renesmee, hand-in-hand. But Renesmee was Bella and Edward's daughter? I'm sure they had explained it to me, but my human memories failed me.

Edward and Bella stood hand-in-hand as well, Bella smiling at me, her relief clear on her face. Edward, however, looked solemn and, judging from Jacob's look, I had a good idea why.

"And who is this?" Jacob asked, clearly addressing Lauren and Paul.

"Who are you?" I challenged. I was the Cullens' friend. Why did it matter to smelly Jacob that I was here?

"I'm Jacob Black. I'm Renesmee's fiancé and part of Quileute alliance." I saw Renesmee's eyes cut toward Jacob with some annoyance and then back to me with apology.

"This is Angela, Jacob. She's a new member of our, er, coven, I guess you could call it." Lauren stumbled over her term for us. We honestly didn't have a name for our little group and it's not like you can google 'how many vampires make up a coven.' At least, I don't think you can and still get a real answer.

Jacob sized me up. Paul stood closer to me and Lauren stepped just in front of me, as if to assert authority and protect me at the same time. "She's a newborn," Jacob said, pointing to my eyes.

"Yes, she is. We assure you: Paul and I have full responsibility for her. She plans to be just like the Cullens and ourselves – she does not want to hunt humans. We promise no humans are at risk here."

Jacob seemed to acquiesce, stepping back. Renesmee put her hand on his face and gave him a brief kiss. He reciprocated, but kept a wary eye on me.

"Welcome, Angela." Edward said, smiling finally. I heard the 'back' implied in his voice, but I knew he didn't want to give anything away with Jacob here. Bella, however, squealed with delight and tackled me in a hug. She reached out for Lauren too and soon the three of us were in a group bear hug while Paul chuckled behind me. Once Bella loosed us from her grip, Paul caught me up in a hug of his own and I saw Bella's eyes widen in surprise.

"Let's go in," Edward gestured toward the Cullen house and we all flitted to the big white house together, Jacob and Renesmee bringing up the rear.


	10. Final

Bella –

"We are, quite possibly, the worst vampire parents," Lauren laughed. "We worried that we had created a monster."

Angela looked like she would blush if she still could. I marveled at her, how different she was and how much of her really was just the same. The pale pallor of her vampire face made it easier to see her and to think how much those of us around her had missed when she was human. She was so beautiful and I felt so shallow having missed that before. Perhaps she hid as much as we ignored, but now she was radiant. The jaundiced tone had given way to alabaster; her eyes were still the aggressive red of a newborn, but the way her face shone when she smiled contrasted with the angry color well. She held tight to Paul and exchanged the same meaningful looks with him that I had seen on the faces of the other couples around me. They were bonded and in a way that none of us could have anticipated when was human. Angela shook her head at Lauren.

"I told you I was sorry!"

Lauren held up her hand at her friend. "We know, Ang. It's okay. It's not about you; it's about Paul and I. We were not prepared for this, at least not right away."

"Well, Paul turned you and you immediately focused on solving the crime that you brought you here. Mine were not the same circumstances."

Renesmee had decided, rather smartly, to distract Jacob and making sure she had him elsewhere while we all had this conversation with the new coven. Lauren recounted how they got here, starting with the end of Angela's human life:

* * *

When we got back to Portland, Angela began preparing for her transformation. She began tying loose ends, writing letters, leaving instructions. We had a two-week plan; at the end of the two weeks, we would abandon her car somewhere, to make it look like she had drowned herself, and then we would take her somewhere where no humans would be around to hear her if she screamed or to tempt her when we taught her how to hunt. We had everything planned out…

_"And then I fell," Angela interrupted, lips pursed. "I felt terrible."_

She fell going down the stairs in her apartment building. Her building manager called 911 and Paul and I had to hide and watch while she was loaded into an ambulance. She text us constantly while she was in the emergency room and in the hospital.

_"It's a miracle that I didn't break any bones. But I bruised rather badly and the doctors were worried I was bleeding internally because of how weak I was. They released me after a couple of days when they figured out that I was fine, except for the bruising and my impending death."_

Angela took a cab home and told us about the doctors wanting to call in hospice to come by and check on her and help her with her pain.

_"You were in pain?" I asked Angela._

_She nodded slowly. "I was in pain every second of every day. Pain meds helped dull it, but it never went away completely."_

So we had to act. We drove out to the Columbia River and left Angela's car there. Then we ran, Paul carrying her, to an area we felt certain was isolated enough that she would not be heard if she screamed. And then she took too many pain pills at the same time.

_Angela looked embarrassed. "I was afraid of being weak and screaming so I wanted to make sure I was good and asleep when Paul bit me. I'm afraid I overdid it, though."_

When her heart started to slow down, both Paul and I panicked. Immediately, he bit her and started injecting venom in as many places possible. I joined him to give it a try myself; I'm amazed that he was able to create me and now her without killing either of us. One bite and I felt the frenzy coming on. I had to stop and run away or else I was afraid I would kill her accidentally.

When she awoke, we took her on a couple of hunts, going for slow-moving game and the like. Imagine our surprise when, at the end of the second trip, she disappeared!

_I gasped and looked at Angela, who ducked her head in a shame but was also smiling._

We tracked her back to Portland somehow. She zigzagged across the area between where we were and where we found her about five times before we able to locate her. By then, she had killed six humans.

_Now Esme gasped. Edward looked concerned, but he knew what the new coven were all thinking so he knew where this was going. "I've been there, Angela," he said._

Every single human she killed had been accused of a heinous crime. How she knew where to find them, I'm not even sure. But she did. They were murderers, rapists, child molesters. A couple of them had been tried, but their trials ended in hung juries or reduced sentences. She killed them and then she stopped. When we found her, she was done. She was ready to go.

_"It was like they repelled me, like magnets. I was so intrigued by it, by any force that could make me want to run away or stay away that strongly. I had to find out what it was and I recognized all of them from the news. They all lived in neighborhoods near my apartment in Portland. I was able to track what repulsed me and eliminate it. Then I felt the good, the familiar good of Paul and Lauren, and I knew when they were coming for me."_

_Raised eyebrows around the room. Angela had a gift and she didn't even realize it yet. The question becomes, then, what did one do with a gift like that?_

She stopped hunting humans after that. I haven't seen her go near a human since then.

_"That's not true. I went to my funeral."_

* * *

Lauren stopped and everyone looked at Angela. All of the vampires in the room looked concerned, including Paul, but Angela looked back at us and smiled.

"I did. It was beautiful. My parents followed my instructions to the letter. It was a great ceremony. I was surprised my parents went through with it, considering they had no body to bury, but I knew about how long the authorities would search for my body before they would call it off. I knew where the ceremony would be and we kept watch over it. I didn't want to miss it. I wanted to see them all one last time."

Angela looked like she would cry if she could, but she pursed her lips again and then smiled. "It's OK, though, that I won't see them all again. I have a new family now. A new life."

Angela held Lauren and Paul's hands. Paul kissed her on the cheek and she winked at him.

"My human life is over. But I have a new life now, thanks to all of you."

Edward and I nodded. Everyone else smiled at Angela's gratitude. I stood up to hug my friend and felt grateful for her life.

"A new life, Bella. A life worth living."


End file.
